Conor McGregor has hinted he may abandon boxing rules in his August 26 clash with Floyd Mayweather Jr. if he is disrespected, threatening he “might just bounce an elbow off his eyebrow” or “strangle” him in two seconds.
Speaking at a pre-fight press conference, the Irish MMA star promised to stick to boxing rules against 40-year-old Mayweather, but only if he is treated with respect, per UFC on Fox:
“As long as he speaks my name with respect, I will abide by the boxing rules, I’ll abide by the Marquess of Queensberry rules. If he disrespects me during this tour or during this buildup, then maybe I might just bounce an elbow off his eyebrow. So that’s on him how he does it. … As long as he’s nice and quiet and respectful I’ll follow the Marquess of Queensberry rules. If he doesn’t, if his head dips down low I might just wrap it up in a strangle. It takes three seconds to sleep a man from a strangle. An untrained neck, not used to it, takes two seconds. So if I wrap around his neck and strangle him, he will be asleep on the canvas in that ring in two seconds.“
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UFC lightweight champion McGregor, 28, will take on undefeated Mayweather at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena in his first-ever professional boxing fight.
The crossover clash could reportedly earn each fighter around $100 million (£78.5 million), per BBC Sport.
UFC president Dana White has already addressed concerns McGregor may bring some of his MMA skills to bear in the clash.
He said McGregor is aware he must not break the rules or he will risk a significant lawsuit, per Martin Domin in The Mirror:
“That [kicking] will not happen; it’s in the contract. This is a boxing match under the Nevada commission under the rules of boxing. We talk about a guy of Floyd Mayweather’s value in the sport—the lawsuit if that ever happened…Conor loves money and he would lose a lot of money if that happened.“
Mayweather has been retired since September 2015, when he bowed out with a victory over Andre Berto that took his professional record to 49-0.
However, he is the clear favourite to beat McGregor given his huge experience as a boxer, and the Irishman’s complete lack of it.
McGregor claimed the UFC lightweight title with a defeat of Eddie Alvarez in his most recent fight back in November to take his professional MMA record to 21-3.
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